Humans have inhabited present-day Missouri for at least 12,000 years. The
Mississippian culture, which emerged at least in the ninth century, built cities and
mounds before declining in the 14th century. When European explorers arrived in the 17th century, they encountered the
Osage and
Missouria nations. The French incorporated the territory into
Louisiana, founding
Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and
St. Louis in 1764. After a brief period of
Spanish rule, the United States acquired Missouri as part of the
Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the
Upland South rushed into the new
Missouri Territory; Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States. Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the
Missouri Compromise of 1820. As a
border state,
Missouri's role in the
American Civil War was complex, and it was subject to rival governments, raids, and guerilla warfare. After the war, both
Greater St. Louis and the
Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business.
After the war, as members of various
gangs of outlaws, Jesse and Frank robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains across the
Midwest, gaining national fame and often popular sympathy despite the brutality of their crimes. The James brothers were most active as members of their own gang from about 1866 until 1876, when as a result of their attempted robbery of a bank in
Northfield, Minnesota, several members of the gang were captured or killed. They continued in crime for several years afterward, recruiting new members, but came under increasing pressure from law enforcement seeking to bring them to justice. On April 3, 1882, Jesse James was shot and killed by
Robert Ford, a new recruit to the gang who hoped to collect a
reward on James's head and a promised
amnesty for his previous crimes. Already a celebrity in life, James became a legendary figure of the
Wild West after his death. (Full article...)
Image 6The population center for the United States has been in Missouri since 1980. As of 2020, it is near
Interstate 44 in Missouri as it approaches
Springfield. (from Missouri)
Image 16A mural honoring the Kansas City Chiefs on the wall of the Westport Alehouse in Kansas City, MO. (from Missouri)
Image 17Ethnic origins in Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 18The
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City services the western portion of Missouri, as well as all of Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. (from Missouri)
Image 21The states and territories of the United States as a result of Missouri's admission as a state on August 10, 1821. The remainder of the former
Missouri Territory became unorganized territory. (from Missouri)
Image 24Most Missourians traveled longer distances by water, and large cargo was transported by
bateaux (shown above). (from History of Missouri)
Image 25Map of early Missouri settlements and trading posts (from History of Missouri)
Image 26Union Station in St. Louis was the world's largest and busiest train station when it opened in 1894. (from Missouri)
Image 27The states and territories of the United States as a result of Missouri's admission as a state on August 10, 1821. The remainder of the former
Missouri Territory became unorganized territory. (from Missouri)
Image 28Price's Raid in the Western Theater, 1864 (from History of Missouri)
Image 42Union Station in St. Louis was the world's largest and busiest train station when it opened in 1894. (from Missouri)
Image 43The
Lake of the Ozarks is one of several man-made lakes in Missouri, created by the damming of several rivers and tributaries. The lake has a surface area of 54,000 acres and 1,150 miles of shoreline and has become a popular tourist destination. (from Missouri)
Image 44Missouri population density map (from Missouri)
Image 47Christopher Bond became the youngest person elected Governor of Missouri in 1972 and was part of the rise of the Republican Party in the state. (from History of Missouri)
Image 48Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election (from Missouri)
Image 56Forrest Smith, elected Governor of Missouri in 1948, was the first governor chosen under the 1945 state Constitution. (from History of Missouri)
Image 57Missouri population density map (from Missouri)
Image 66The
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City services the western portion of Missouri, as well as all of Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. (from Missouri)
Image 71The
Lake of the Ozarks is one of several man-made lakes in Missouri, created by the damming of several rivers and tributaries. The lake has a surface area of 54,000 acres and 1,150 miles of shoreline and has become a popular tourist destination. (from Missouri)
Image 74The population center for the United States has been in Missouri since 1980. As of 2020, it is near
Interstate 44 in Missouri as it approaches
Springfield. (from Missouri)
Image 75Köppen climate types of Missouri (from Missouri)
... that after his professional gridiron football career, Ed "Brick" Travis served as president of the Missouri Auto Dealers Association and as president of a local school board?
... that Missouri's annual Snake Saturday parade originally began in a hotel parking lot with only four floats?
... that supporters of a 2020 ballot initiative to
expand Medicaid in Missouri did not use the words "Medicaid expansion" to describe their proposal in some campaign material?
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